The Mercy of Affliction
“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake." Phil 1:29 ESV
Lots of people (including me) are not fans of physical exercise, but when you read about the benefits of a regular habit of exercise and the consequence of not exercising, you don’t have to be smart to figure out that exercise is essential to good health and wellbeing… whether you like it or not. The same is true of affliction. Affliction is not something anyone desires, but that does not mean we don’t need it. The truth is, affliction is a God-appointed tool to aid in the maturation of believers. Without it, vital nutrients are missing for the proper development of the fruit we are called to bear (Jn 15:8).
What is affliction? The Merriam Webster Dictionary app says affliction is “a cause of persistent pain or distress” or “great suffering.” The Greek word in our passage under consideration is pascho. From it, we get our word passion, as in the passion of Christ, that is referring to his suffering.
Let’s take a closer look at the phrases in this verse. “It has been granted to you.” Granted by whom? God, of course. When God grants something to us, it is a grace-gift from the heart of our Good Father. So whether pain and suffering come as the result of the evil in our own hearts, or as the result of the evil in the world around us, affliction is given permission to enter our lives in accordance with God’s perfect plan for our sanctification—at just the right time and in just the right measure to accomplish God’s will in us. When we see it as what C. S. Lewis calls “a severe mercy,” we will process its presence in our lives in a way much different than the world at large.
Back to the text. “For the sake of Christ.” Just a few short verses before, Paul wrote: “For to me to live is Christ” (v. 21). If you combine the two thoughts, we could understand this phrase as “for the sake of Christ in me.” My pursuit of Christ should produce more of him in my life and less of me. He must increase; I must decrease (Jn 3:30). He must crescendo; I must diminuendo. Affliction is granted to us by God to produce the exaltation of Christ in our lives by conquering and subduing the remaining rebel forces within our unruly hearts.
Let’s consider that next-to-last phrase: “that… you should not only believe in him.” Paul is reminding us that even our belief in Jesus was granted to us by God for the sake of Christ. And he is taking it even further by saying: in the same way that you received the faith to believe in Jesus, you should receive affliction (suffering) so that you may grow in Jesus.
How does affliction cause us to grow in Jesus? Let’s consider four thoughts. First, affliction weakens the flesh. When we are pain-and-suffering free, we tend to have more confidence in our own strength. Affliction reminds us of how weak we truly are. No one is able to save himself. No one is righteous. In fact, we hate righteousness so much that we nailed it to a cross. The only way to be right with God is to be given something we do not possess—perfect righteousness. Affliction deals a blow to our ego and demands we go to the cross. Only there can we hand over the filthy rags of our righteousness and receive the white robe of Christ’s righteousness in their place.
Second, affliction wakens the Spirit. If our flesh fails us in times of affliction, our only source of strength is the Spirit that lives in us. Our cry for mercy in time of need is a call for the Spirit to rise up within us and take charge. As Psalm 18 puts it, “In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears” (v. 6). The result? “Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him” (v. 7-8).
Third, affliction waters the seed. When our response to affliction is not the question, “Why, God, are you doing this to me?” but is instead, “What, God, are you doing in me?,” you are watering the seed of the Word of God that will produce a tree planted by the waters (Ps 1:3, Jer 17:8) that yields the sweet and luscious fruit of the spirit (Gal 5:22-23). Affliction is the gym of the soul. It offers us the opportunity to sweat and strain; to push and pull; to run and rest; to propel ourselves beyond our current limits so that strength increases. You want more love in your life? Spend time with someone difficult to love. Hang out with people you’re uncomfortable around; that don’t agree with you; that don’t dress like you. Let the gym of affliction kick your spiritual posterior.
Lastly, affliction weans us off the temporary. Paul said it best. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing us for an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Cor 4:16-18). As my mother often said, “This too shall pass.”
When we begin to see affliction as a blessing from God instead of a curse, we will begin to embrace it as a mercy from our kind and loving Father, who is laser-focused on conforming us to the image of his son. We will not fight against affliction as though it is something to be repudiated, but will allow it to do its work in us. We will see God as the sculptor chiseling away the extraneous marble—however painful that may be—until the masterpiece of the imago Christus emerges. Yield to affliction’s work in you and you will see it as a mercy—not a mercenary.
“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lieMy grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supplyThe flame shall not hurt thee, I only designThy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.”(from “How Firm a Foundation”)